Five-try Will Joseph equals record as England steamroller Japan

Résumé détaillé

To say Japan came a distant second is to be polite in the extreme. From the moment Will Joseph collected a hat-trick of tries inside the game’s opening 20 minutes it was simply a…

Not every game of rugby can deliver a result for the ages. Admittedly, England do not score 13 tries every week but even if the hosts had run up 150 points they would have struggled to eclipse this weekend’s remarkable events in Cardiff and Paris. That said, in the annals of one-sided contests on this famous old stretch of turf, there have been few to match this virtual procession.

To say Japan came a distant second is to be polite in the extreme. From the moment Will Joseph collected a hat-trick of tries inside the game’s opening 20 minutes it was simply a question of how many points England would rack up and, to their credit, Maro Itoje’s side tucked into the free buffet with relish. Joseph, playing only his second Test, claimed a record-equalling five tries as his side comfortably topped their previous highest score against the Brave Blossoms.

The home crowd also particularly enjoyed a barnstorming first-half score by Ellis Genge but, in truth, this was akin to shooting koi carp in a barrel. Japan lost their secondrow forward Harry Hockings to a subsequently upgraded 20-minute red card in the first minute and their head coach Eddie Jones, after the relative encouragement of a narrow loss to Wales, wore a stern expression up in the stands from an early stage on his latest return to familiar surroundings.

How the Nations Championship final pool standings will pan out next Saturday remains uncertain, with South Africa and New Zealand both now needing to respond to weekend jolts. But if you work on the basis that Japan, just seven days earlier, finished within a score of Wales it could be argued that England should now be seen as slight favourites to overturn the All Blacks this coming weekend.

Even in the absence of some first-choice personnel they again frequently attacked with verve and were already 49-10 up by the interval as Japan’s evening spiralled from bad to worse.

The athletic Joseph has had to be patient since making his debut under Jones on tour in Australia…

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